NEW YORK (Staff Report) Different groups of Sikh and the Patel community supporters held demonstration outside the UN headquarters here, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Sustainable Development at a special UN summit.

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Under the banner of Sikhs for Justice, over a thousand Sikhs, alleging human rights violations in Punjab, demanded referendum in 2020 for a separate Khalistan. Members of Sikhs for Justice, Akali Dal Amritsar and United States’ Gurdwara Parbandhak Committees participated in the protest.

The protesters, raising anti-India and anti-Modi slogans, urged the world body to take steps to meet their demand.

Side by side in a separate enclosure were a few dozen members of the Patidar community from Gujarat who are living in different parts of the country. “We want justice from police brutalities.

“As many as 4,000 youths are still in police custody. There has been police brutality against innocent people. So far no action has been taken against the police officials responsible for this,” one Anil Patel claimed.